Intelligence

Intelligence is considered to be one of the most desirable personality qualities in today's

society. Anyone can define intelligence because it is an open-ended word that has much room for

interpretation. Thus my paper is an attempt to find the meaning of human intelligence. However,

despite all the tests and criteria that measure intelligence, the question still remains: what is

intelligence? How can it be measured? Is there only one kind of intelligence, or do humans

possess several? These seemingly simple questions have proved to be some of the most

perplexing and contentious topics in both public and scientific circles.

For hundreds of years people have tried to figure out just what it means to be intelligent.

In fact there has been many theories on what intelligence really is and the debate over its true

definition was very controversial. However, now-a-days experts seem to agree on a single

definition of what intelligence is. According to Merriam-Webster's dictionary, intelligence is

defined as the ability to learn or understand or to deal with new or trying situations. So in other

words, intelligence is not just the info you know or the activities you've learned to do. But its our

ability to use our knowledge to manipulate one's environment in an ever changing world.

When one thinks of measuring intelligence, most people talk about IQ's (intelligence

quotient). Alfred Binet was one of the first psychologists to create an intelligence test back in

1905. The Binet test was used identify students who needed the most help I schools. The test was

changed and modified over the years, and it has become the basis for many modern day

intelligence tests. And IQ test measures a persons cognitive abilities in relation to their age

group.